Chapter 29 – Past
Meiko slept calmly in her bed in Tottori. She and Hackmon had come back to Tottori through a distortion. Now the black-haired woman slept in her bed while her partner looked ahead of him. His left front leg was laid over his other and he was deeply engrossed in thought.
He thought of the encounter with Gankoomon, his master from his former life. The four-footed dragon sighed. He turned his head to Meiko and watched her a bit. Now that he was getting back his memories from his previous life, he felt bad. Hackmon made major accusations about Meicoomon's death.
He shouldn't have used Un Pour Tous at the time and right when he had the chance to kill Meiko's first partner... This could certainly have prevented many problems that had arisen... For example, Meicoomon could not be reborn because she died in the real world. With a shake of the head, the four-footed dragon turned his gaze away from the black-haired.
He himself now had many questions. What should he do now that he had almost all the memories of his previous life? Should he leave Meiko? Or should he stay with her and pretend he has few memories of his previous life? But that wouldn't work, because he was very honest with her. He thought for a while until he came to a decision.
Yawning, Meiko opened her eyes and straightened up. She rubbed her sleepy eyes and yawned again. Then she put on her glasses and blinked a few times. At first, she didn't even notice that Hackmon wasn't there. But then she got a fright. Normally, her partner was always with her when she woke up. However, the four-footed dragon was not there. Maybe he was in another room... She hoped so. She went to her mirror and took the brush in her hand before quickly brushing her hair. Then she put the object back, took her Digivice and put it in her pocket before she left the room and went to the kitchen.
"Morning, Meiko," her mother greeted her.
"Good morning, Mom," she replied, looking around.
Ms. Mochizuki immediately noticed this and asked:
"Is something wrong, Meiko?"
"Where's Hackmon?" was her counter-question: "Have you seen him?"
"No. Wasn't he in your room?"
The black-haired woman shook her head. Where was her partner? He couldn't just disappear. Or he just wanted to take a morning walk and would return soon. That's what she hoped for. Meiko's father, who already had grey hair and also wore glasses, came in and sat on a chair at the table.
"Good morning," he said, before his wife presented him with a coffee.
"Good morning, Dad. Have you seen Hackmon?" the black-haired woman asked him.
"Hackmon?" he repeated the name and took a sip of the coffee: "Is he your new partner?"
"Yes... Normally he always waits when I wake up... But today, when I woke up, he wasn't in my room..." she looked at Mr. Mochizuki, slightly unsettled.
"Why Hackmon?" was his question, sounding rather cool.
"Why?" she looked at her father in amazement.
"I just wonder why Hackmon is your new partner."
"Is it so wrong?" she bit her lower lip.
"Of course not... I'm just a little surprised..." he said thoughtfully.
He recalled the two conversations he had with Hackmon once. He had the first conversation with Daigo Nishijima, the second alone. The four-footed dragon seemed very emotionally cold and better-known. And exactly the same Digimon was Meiko's partner? He couldn't quite befriend the idea. He had once seen Hackmon's baby-level. At that time he seemed very playful and totally affectionate to the black-haired, almost like Meicoomon. Mr. Mochizuki could not and did not want to believe that Botamon was Hackmon.
"Why?" his daughter asked him, and also sat in a chair opposite him.
"Because he acted very coldly when I spoke to him a year ago," he said, taking another sip of coffee.
"I mean... I had also met him as Meicoomon... Well… Then she went crazy," she swallowed heavily at the memories.
Meiko didn't like to remember it. She recalled how her former partner had thanked her. Dan-dan, Meicoomon said. The black-haired woman could hardly hold back her tears, but forced herself to smile. Her former partner was very happy about this and waved goodbye to her as she slowly turned into data fragments before disappearing completely. Meiko then began to cry violently before calming down and repeating Meicoomon's last words. Dan-dan, thank you for everything. That's what her former partner was saying.
"I... I'm looking for Hackmon," the black-haired woman said, and rushed to her room, where she moved.
Then she ran into the hallway and took her shoes before opening the front door and storming out into the near forest. Their run was fast and uninterrupted. She didn't pay much attention to the way. It was a miracle that Meiko did not stumble and fall. Again and again she called for her partner. Hoped that he would hear her and he would come to her.
"Hackmon, where are you? Hackmon!" she shouted after him.
She didn't even notice that the area was changing. It wasn't until she stepped out of the forest that she realized a park with lots of people. The black-haired eyes widened as she sank to her lower legs. How could that be? There was no park near her house. So how did she get there?
"How? How did I end up in Tokyo?" she wondered: "Tottori is on the east coast of Japan... and Tokyo on the west coast... How did I end up here?"
Shocked, she pinched herself in the upper arm. Maybe it was just a dream. But it hurt. More and more she wondered how she could get to Tokyo. That was completely impossible. There had been no distortion... Or was she too busy racing and looking for a distortion? It had to be. However, another problem has now arose. In which part of the city was it located? She didn't have a cell phone with her, so she didn't know where she was. Once upon a time, she was sure. She didn't know how to get to Tokyo. But she could now ask her friends for help after finding Hackmon. Meiko began to move and search for her friends and the four-footed dragon. But it was harder than it looked. Because she couldn't find a familiar face. With a heavy sigh, the black-haired woman sat down and looked at her thighs until she noticed a shadow over her.
"You... are... one of the DigiDestined, right?" a male-sounding voice asked her.
Meiko looked up and recognized Doc Kato Azuma... or more precisely only Azuma and a woman clad in a white dress. First of all, she was terrified. She hadn't expected him.
"Where... is your... partner?" asked Azuma, kneading his hands.
Somehow he was totally insecure... or did the black-haired woman just imagined it? No... The former doctor seemed to have been replaced. He wasn't too confident anymore.
"Where is your... partner?" he repeated the question.
"Gone... gone without a trace...", she replied, depressed.
"Ah... Sorry."
The black-haired woman shook her head and then said:
"It's okay... It is not your fault."
"Thank you... But..." he broke off and watched two children and their mother.
"So... Um... How are you?"
"I'm doing a therapy..."
"I see... How is it going?"
"Well, I think..."
"He gets pretty strong medication because he suffers from depression." said the woman next to him.
"Oh... That's why you're not yourself..." replied Meiko.
"Yes... I don't really want anything... I'm just glad that Shin visits me regularly..." Azuma continued
"Have you told him that..." now she interrupted the sentence.
"That what?" Azuma looked at her.
"That Akira... well..."
"Meiko? How did you come here?" asked another male-sounding voice.
The person in question looked to the voice and recognized her boyfriend Tai. He looked at her in amazement, thinking that the black-haired woman in Tottori was with her parents.
"Tai..." she said, and stood up.
Meiko looked at him. The brown-haired woman could see that she could hardly hold back her tears.
"What happened?" was Tai's question.
"Hackmon is... gone..." she said.
Meanwhile, the woman next to the former scientist looked at the clock and was terrified. He had to go back to the hospital.
"You have to go back, Azuma..." the woman said, quickly saying goodbye before walking away with Azuma.
The brown-haired man pursued Azuma with his eyes.
"Wasn't that..." he wondered.
"Yes... That was Azuma... He's being treated..." replied the black-haired woman.
"Mr. Kawa will probably be very happy about this..." said Tai, as Meiko turned around and looked around the area looking.
"Can I help you?" was his question.
His girlfriend just nodded and they both set off. They searched for a while and yet they did not find Hackmon. He had disappeared without a trace. The two searched in different parks, streets and train stations. Once they settled on the top of a skyscraper. They also searched for him at two schools. But no trace. It was almost as if the four-footed dragon didn't want to be found by anyone. Eventually they found Agumon and Gabumon talking under a bridge. The two digimon were visibly surprised that Tai and Meiko found them. Normally, they always chose hiding places that no one else could find.
"Are you okay, Tai?" the yellow dinosaur asked.
"Hackmon is gone," he said, looking at the black-haired man.
She looked helplessly at the two parts of the ultimate level Omnimon.
"What?" the reptile-digimon's eyes widened with astonishment: "But why did he disappear?"
"I... don't know," Meiko said, "I don't... know..."
"We could look for him in the digital world," Agumon suggested.
"He'll probably be there," Gabumon added.
"Thank you, you two," Tai said, smiling.
"I'm going to come along," the black-haired woman decided.
"No," said the reptile digimon.
"You would only be in our way, Meiko." the yellow dinosaur said.
"Okay..." she looked at the floor as the two rookie digimon created a distortion.
Before Tai could say anything else, the two digimon disappeared. The brown-haired man put his hand on Meiko's shoulder and smiled cheerfully at her. She took a deep breath before moving. The brown-haired man couldn't believe his girlfriend was still looking for Hackmon. She had to be really worried about her partner. Again, an hours-long search began. So at three o'clock in the afternoon it finally started to rain. This did not dampen Meiko's search drive. She didn't want to lose another partner. She just didn't want it.
"Meiko... We should stop. It's raining hard and we haven't found Hackmon," Tai said after it had been raining for ten minutes.
"No..." she contradicted him: "I have to find him... He-"
'It doesn't make sense. We are completely soaked and exhausted."
"I must-" her legs gave way and she threatened to hit the ground.
"Meiko!" the brown-haired man shouted in horror and could just catch her: "Is everything okay?!"
"Hack... mon..." she said weakly.
Tai put his hand on her forehead and withdrew it a short time later. Her forehead glowed really strongly. When did she get a fever? The brown-haired man began to blame himself. He shouldn't have been looking for Hackmon with her. Again, Meiko was a person who didn't show how she was doing.
But then he shook his head. He wasn't allowed to burden himself with that at the moment. He somehow had to organize a roof over her black-haired head for Meiko. So the brown-haired man grabbed his phone and started calling his friends. Luckily, Sora and Biyomon were nearby and were able to carry Meiko to Sora's and her mother's apartment. Once there, the black-haired woman was placed in a bed and covered with a blanket. Matt's girlfriend took a chair and sat on it while Tai knelt on the floor next to the bed. His brown eyes rested on Meiko.
"What exactly... happened?" asked Sora slowly.
"Hackmon is gone," the brown-haired man replied.
His eyes continued to rest on his girlfriend.
"How... why?!" exclaimed Matt's girlfriend, and stood up abruptly.
"Sora..." said Biyomon.
"I don't know," Tai said, sighing heavily.
"Maybe... He's starting to remember who he used to be," the bird digimon suspected as she settled on the ground.
"Do you think so, Biyomon?" was Sora's question, tilting her head slightly to the side.
"I think I'm also starting to remember my previous life," she said.
"Really? Your life before you became Sora's partner?" the brown-haired man said in amazement.
"Yes," Biyomon nodded to him: "I remember a digimon wanting that I should join him. I then challenged him to a competition which I won. But I joined him anyway."
"Who was this digimon?" the brown-haired man asked.
"I don't know," she shook her head briefly.
Suddenly, Sora's phone rang. She pulled it out and saw Izzy's number. Immediately, she accepted the call.
"Izzy?" was her somewhat astonished question.
"Good that I can reach you Sora. I was able to translate all but one line of the old legend," the redhead explained.
He sounded proudly as if he had personally discovered a complicated formula, proved it and won a Nobel Prize for it.
"Really? That's great!," Matt's girlfriend rejoiced: "Wait a moment. I switch to loud. Tai and Biyomon can hear the legend as well."
"Tai is with you?" he sounded a little astonished, but seized himself again.
She skipped the question and instead said:
"I'm switching loudly now."
Izzy himself took a deep breath and opened the file where he had saved the translation of the legend. Then he read aloud:
" Thirteen knights, once blessed, protected the world.
Thirteen knights, once proud, fell into an argument.
Alphamon, the leader, and Omnimon, the second-hand, started it all
The eleven knights also clashed.
Gallantmon, the Pure One, Examon, the Dragon Emperor,
Sleipmon, the Fast, Gankoomon, the Helper, Jesmon, the Friendly,
Allies with the White.
UlforceVeedramon, the Courteous, Duftmon, the All-Knowing,
Dynasmon, the Righteous, Crusadermon, the Rose, Craniamon, the Faithful,
Allies with the Black.
Oh, you former protector of the world,
Now you are divided.
Evil attacks you,
and destroys you.
Now you are gone,
The world will still exist,
Even if they lost your protections"
"Wow... The legend is pretty long.", Tai had to swallow.
"Except for a small piece written in another language..." the redhead became slightly angry and briefly gritted his teeth.
Then he muttered something incomprehensible. It sounded like a curse. A curse on the fact that a specific line was written in another language.
"Hm... So there are really thirteen Royal Knights," Biyomon said.
"And both Omnimon and Jesmon are part of this group," Sora concluded.
"Exactly," Izzy confirmed the words of the two: "I'm still informing the others. See you soon, Tai, Sora and Biyomon."
The redhead ended the phone conversation while Matt's girlfriend and the brown-haired man looked at each other tacitly until the latter leaned on the wall with a sigh.
"Tai?" Sora walked slowly to him.
"Do you think it's my fault..." he quipped.
"With what? How Meiko is doing?"
"Exactly," he nodded briefly.
"It's not your fault."
"She's not Kari!"
"But she is someone who means a lot to you... But it's not your fault that she collapsed, Tai," Matt's girlfriend briefly shook her head before smiling cheerfully at him.
"I know... I just can't bear it when Meiko is doing so badly," he sighed while driving one hand through and sighed again.
"Matt is just like you... You know Tai. We don't want you guys to worry about us like that," she said: "and as for Hackmon. He will be fine... I guess Agumon is already looking for him because he's not with you."
"Together with Gabumon... They'll probably look for him as Omnimon."
"Don't worry. Meiko has you," she tapped him on his chest with her right index finger: "And Hackmon can take care of himself. Don't worry about that."
The brown-haired man remained silent a little before he began to smile slightly.
"Thank you... Sora. I needed an encouragement," he said with a nod of his head.
"That's why we are friends."
"And don't worry about Agumon and Gabumon," Biyomon said, "They are, after all, the Royal Knight Omnimon, just as Hackmon is the Royal Knight Jesmon. They can take care of themselves. That's the most important thing."
"One thing, however, Biyomon," Tai replied, "I never worry about Agumon and Gabumon because they are very strong. I'm just a little worried about Hackmon."
Hackmon briefly looked into the sky. Several clouds moved over the horizon. He had them back. He had all his memories back from his last life. And with that, the guilt of Meicoomon's death began to weigh even more. If he hadn't used Un Pour Tous at the time, Ophanimon Falldown Mode would not have fused with Raguelmon, creating Ordinemon.
The four-footed dragon sighed heavily. He was to blame, all alone he was. Did he even want to be Meiko's partner? Did he want that after doing something horrible to her and Meicoomon?
Hackmon began to move. He wandered aimlessly through the area until he saw a well-known meadow with blue flowers. For two months he had not seen Tapirmon, Maki Himekawa's partner. He was still picking flowers in the field as if nothing bad had happened. When Maki's partner saw him, he stopped and looked toward the ground. Shortly afterwards, however, he looked up again and smiled uncertainly before going to the four-footed dragon. With a slightly inclined head, Tapirmon patterned it.
"Hey!" he said in his beeping voice.
"Are you alright?" asked Hackmon.
"I've seen you before... before... two months? Two months!"
"Yes, and?"
"Thank you for telling me that Maki is dead. Otherwise, I would have waited forever for her."
"You don't seem to be sad about her death," he said.
"Maki had once said that friends don't hurt each other," he said, going back to the flower meadow, where he began picking flowers again.
The four-footed dragon followed him, but stopped a few meters away from him.
"Friends don't hurt each other..." Hackmon repeated quietly.
"Exactly!" cried Maki's partner, "If you deliberately hurt your friend, you're no longer your friend!"
"I know!" he replied harshly.
Too harsh. Tapirmon was frightened by his tone. When he could catch himself again, he asked him:
"Did something happen?"
"I... I left my partner without telling her anything... In fact… I am to blame for the death of her former partner..."
"I don't know what happened... But..." he briefly took a break and chose his next words: "You're very attached to your partner, don't you?"
"I do... But I blame myself..."
"Don't blame yourself! Does your partner want that?"
The four-footed dragon shook his head. Of course, Meiko didn't want him to blame himself. But that's how he felt.
"And it doesn't help that I've received all my memories from my last life," he said with a sigh.
There was a reminder of how he had talked to Gennai and the Homeostasis after Apocalymon was defeated.
"Apocalymon was defeated... The DigiDestined defeated and destroyed him," Gennai said, his arms entwined in front of his chest.
In his mind, however, he was thinking something else. He lied to Hackmon, which he didn't like at all. He lied to him that he was Alphamon. The Homeostasis wanted it this way, and Gennai himself did not contradict the god. Especially after he had learned how hard it was to deal with a god. He remembered that he had once thought King Drasil ... He never wanted to do it again.
"Not quite, Gennai," the Homeostasis replied.
"What do you mean, Homeostasis?" the four-footed dragon asked.
"A small part of Apocalymon's data ended up in King Drasil's hands."
"What?!" said Gennai and Hackmon, terrified.
"It's unfortunately true." the god sighed heavily: "Apocalymon's data was put into a digimon... We call this digimon Meicoomon."
"And what do we do with this digimon now?" was Gennai's question.
"One of you is going to overview it..." decided the Homeostasis.
"And who?" asked the four-footed dragon.
"I'd take you, Hackmon," the God replied.
"Me? But-!"
"I know... You should soon get a human partner... But the harmony and stability are coming first, Hackmon."
Hackmon gritted his teeth. Actually, he would soon have got a partner, because it was his most wanted wish. He had seen the extent of the power of the connection between digimon and humans. He wanted to be part of that power. He wanted to be stronger and no longer be alone.
"And who will become Meicoomon's partner?" asked Gennai, as if he had already guessed the Homeostasis's next steps.
"Hackmon's intended partner... Meiko Mochizuki." said the God.
"What?! I don't agree with this!" the four-footed dragon exclaimed angrily: "Meiko would never be able to control Meicoomon!"
"Hackmon!" the Homeostasis interrupted him: "What is your job?"
"Keeping harmony and stability." he replied.
"Exactly. For the good of all, you have to set aside your own needs."
"I know," Hackmon said.
In front of him appeared a distortion, in which dived and then landed at Meiko. He himself was on the roof of the house Mochizuki. It was just noon and so the four-footed dragon could watch the black-haired girl and Meicoomon play together. Meiko herself just laughed happily when her partner accidentally stumbled into a pile of foliage. Then the cat digimon came out of the pile and laughed cheerfully as well. Meanwhile, Hackmon gritted his teeth as three claws dug into the roof. He was jealous of Meicoomon. It had been his place. It had been his place as Meiko's partner... Now he had been told to take care of the cat-digimon. The four-footed dragon felt Gennai settle down behind him.
"The two of them get along very well," the man remarked.
"They do," he replied coolly.
"Let me advise Hackmon... You're jealous of Meicoomon because she took away your place as Meiko's partner, right?"
"Yes."
"Listen. The Homeostasis makes decisions which we follow... It's almighty."
"You are just a being created by it. You can never understand the complexity of feelings."
"And? You are also a being created by the Homeostasis, or am I wrong?" Gennai briefly tilted his head to the side.
"We're separating a good 10,000-year age difference, Gennai."
"Didn't you also say that age difference is worthless for you?"
"Doesn't matter. If you have nothing else to do, then go back to the digital world. I have to do my job."
"Of course," the man got up and turned around.
"By the way, Gennai."
"Yes?"
"You changed slightly... I don't like this change."
"But I'm fine."
"Really?" he turned to him sceptically and looked at him in detail.
"Really, really," he assured him, before disappearing into a distortion.
/I like this Gennai guy less and less./, thought the four-footed dragon: /He behaves really funny./
With these thoughts Hackmon continued to observe Meiko and Meicoomon, while the flame of jealousy burned in him. But he didn't let it be noted.
"You should go back..." said Tapirmon, ripping the four-footed dragon out of his thoughts.
"Going back?" he asked, astonished.
"Yes. To your partner. She's certainly worried about you."
"No. I will stay in the digital world for a while..."
"Listen! You have to think of others, not just always you."
"I always think of others!" he yelled at him: "That's why I'm doing this one-off now. It's also my fault... all alone mine."
"Your fault?" repeated Tapirmon.
"Yes," he closed his eyes and sighed before moving.
"Where do you want to go?"
"Somewhere. The main thing is where I don't meet anyone. I need time for myself, that's all."
Hackmon began to run and move away from Maki's partner.